New Meta-Analysis affirms Single Treatment Electron Beam IORT for Breast Cancer Patients

November 14, 2017

New comprehensive study published in the “Annals of Surgical Oncology” demonstrates the
clinical effectiveness of electron IORT in the treatment of Breast Cancer.

A new comprehensive study published in the highly regarded Annals of Surgical Oncology demonstrates a “low risk of recurrence” at 5 years for patients given partial breast irradiation (PBI) when treated with a single dose of electron-beam Intraoperative Radiation Therapy (IORT). The study “Meta-Analysis of Local Invasive Breast Cancer Recurrence After Electron Intraoperative Radiotherapy” was the first ever to use advanced statistical techniques to conduct a meta-analysis of the published literature for this modality.

The study was conducted by a multidisciplinary group of renowned clinicians and statisticians including lead author and breast surgeon Jay Harness, MD and radiation oncologists Frank Vicini, MD and Chirag Shah, MD. The pooled meta-analysis modeled data from over 1,600 patients across 13 published studies where PBI was delivered with a single treatment of electron-beam IORT during surgery. The study concluded that the adjusted 5-year recurrence rate across all risk groups of patients was only 2.7%, further validating the recent guidelines from ASTRO supporting the use of electron based IORT in low-risk patients.

“We were very encouraged by these positive results,” stated lead author Jay Harness, MD. “At our institution we have been offering electron beam IORT for qualified breast cancer patients since 2009 with both excellent clinical results and positive impact on the quality of life for many of our patients. Based on the latest ASTRO guidelines, around 20% of breast cancer patients now qualify to having this simple and effective treatment. This is good news to so many faced with this terrible disease”, added Harness. “The data supporting APBI continues to get stronger with multiple randomized trials now demonstrating equivalence with traditional whole breast irradiation for select patients”, noted Frank Vicini, MD, co-author of the study. “While more data is certainly needed and forthcoming, the evidence today clearly demonstrates that electron based IORT is capable of treating the clinical volumes required for effective partial breast irradiation. And with proper quality assurance, electron based IORT should be able to deliver statistically similar results as WBI and PBI techniques in appropriately selected patients as outlined in the recently updated ASTRO guidelines.”

The IntraOp® Mobetron® is the only self-shielded, portable LINAC capable of providing electron IORT in a standard operating room, unifying surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and medical oncologists to act as an effective team in the fight against cancer. Electron IORT as delivered by the Mobetron is the only single treatment option affirmed by the latest ASTRO APBI Consensus Statement. For breast cancer the Mobetron can administer in a single, two-minute treatment the equivalent of six weeks of conventional postoperative, external beam x-ray radiation. By greatly reducing the overall treatment time, toxicity levels are minimal and the patient is able to return to daily life much sooner than with conventional treatments. The technique is often done in conjunction with oncoplastic breast reconstruction to maximize cosmetic results, explaining the increasing trend toward electron IORT with the Mobetron as a preferred APBI technique.

For the original Press Release follow this link: New Meta-Analysis affirms Single Treatment Electron Beam IORT for Breast Cancer Patients